1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of medical imaging using computerized tomography (CT), and in particular, is directed to a method to determine tissue densities in the body of a subject and to provide calibrated display of images.
2. Description of the Related Art
CT scanners have become a major diagnostic modality in modem medicine and are widely used for many types of exams. Most exams are performed by subjective viewing of the cross-sectional images on either film or electronic displays. This subjective viewing makes use of assumed quantitative image pixels, which define boundaries of tissues, organs or foreign masses, and subjective discrimination of tissue types by density differences. Identification of diagnostic details is fundamentally dependent upon the detection of image detail edges.
Measurements of true tissue densities in the living subject have many diagnostic benefits, in addition, to bone densitometry. Several new and promising measurements include lung nodule density, cardiac calcifications, aortic calcifications, soft plaque, fat measurements, BMI, lung volume and density, liver iron content, and the like. Knowledge of true tissue densities will allow diagnostic analysis of images not currently possible. Absolute change in CT numbers may allow new diagnostic criteria. Emphysema, tissue fat content, calcifications, liver iron build up, and the like could be determined from the calibrated data, thus, adding a new dimension to CT interpretation.
Radiologists routinely make subjective, and even quantitative measurements of foreign masses, tissues or organs by manually placing cursors to define the 2-D extent of the target. If the window and/or level (brightness and contrast) are changed in the display, the apparent size of the target changes because the boundary is not discrete and is moved in or out of the display range. The measured object size is, thus, frequently inaccurate, and will vary from operator to operator and from scanner to scanner depending on the display conditions and scanner properties.
CT images are filmed by a technologist or other operator and are recorded on standard x-ray film for light box viewing. The size, and apparent density of target objects, and foreign masses depend on the window and level settings. The window/level settings are subjectively set for filming and display of a particular image. In addition, the process to set and adjust the window and level requires operator time and is currently very inefficient. Electronic image data are frequently erased, and only the films retained for the medical records. Later viewing is limited to the subjective display and/or the filming levels previously chosen by the operator.
The foregoing discussion is based on the assumption that pixels and/or voxels of the image are a representation of the true underlying density of the target tissue. Although this assumption is roughly maintained due to the scanner being calibrated to water and air, it is sufficiently inaccurate that many quantitative measurements cannot be made with even the best modern scanners.
There has been significant, recent interest in quantifying coronary calcium, as well as calcifications in the aorta, lungs, breast, and carotids. It is desirable to provide improved calibration methods for all the tissues of the body. Whole body CT scanning is growing rapidly in use. The entire torso is scanned creating many thin slices for analysis and viewing. The radiologist attempts to subjectively analyze many structures from many images, which is laborious and very time consuming. Measurements of densities and volumes of many organs are of interest, including heart, lung, liver, kidneys, prostate, thyroid, pancreas, and the like. Quantitative measurements of calcifications, of areas and volumes, as well as standardized viewing and filming of images, all require improved calibration methods.
CT scanners have been used as quantitative instruments for bone density measurements in quantitative computerized tomography (QCT) by the use of calibration phantoms. More recently, fast CT scanners, such as the Imatron EBCT and GE Light Speed, have been used for coronary calcium analysis with or without phantom calibration. Several calibration approaches have been used in QCT bone densitometry including simultaneous phantom calibration with bone and tissue equivalent phantoms, non-simultaneous calibration with more anthropomorphic phantoms, non-phantom calibration using histogram analysis of fat and muscle regions, simultaneous phantom calibration with blood sample corrections, and dual energy calibration to correct for vertebral fat in bone density measurements. These approaches have been developed specifically for and used for QCT bone densitometry of vertebral trabecular bone.
CT numbers, (Hounsfield Units, HU), are estimates of the attenuation coefficients of tissue relative to water as the calibration reference material. However, CT numbers fail to be truly quantitative for several reasons. For example, the tissue attenuation coefficients are photon energy dependent, and the x-ray beam energy spectra are not measured or known for individual patients. Further, there exists many beam energy spectra in each CT slice, i.e., a unique spectrum for each path length through the patient, and seen at a particular detector element, and a unique spectrum for each view through the patient. The beam spectrum changes with the thickness and composition of tissues in the path length. The quantities of fat, soft tissue, air, and bone vary with each projection. X-ray tube filtration to shape the beam intensity also changes the beam spectrum resulting in variation in CT numbers based on locations within the field of view. Image processing software and current beam hardening corrections have as an objective to improve subjective image quality, and do so, often, at the expense of quantitative information. CT number calibrations and beam hardening corrections are based on idealized phantoms, which are often circular in shape and composed of water, plastics, or other synthetic materials. These differ significantly from the shape and composition of real patients. CT numbers at the edge of the field of view, where a calibration phantom would be placed, are different from those inside the patient. This produces errors in calibration since the phantom can never be placed inside the body cavity. CT numbers vary through the image on each slice, and are dependent on table height, position in the beam, slice thickness, field of view, and sometimes even the time of day as the scanner warms up.
Many diagnoses are based subjectively on perceived tissue densities and regional changes in density as demonstrated by the CT numbers in the image. Results currently are independent of patient variability and CT equipment. Standardization and calibration of the CT numbers across different patients and CT scanners will aid in interpretation of many conditions.
It is frequently desirable to make quantitative measurements from both two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) data sets in medical imaging. Accurate measurements of organ or tumor volumes and cross-sectional areas of various biological details, such as blood vessels, all have potential medical diagnostic value. Quantification of vascular calcium and micro calcifications throughout the body is valuable in cardiovascular disease and breast cancer detection, for example. All of these tasks use gray scale, voxel-based data. The identification of the edge of a target region may use any of several edge detection algorithms, such as the Sobel operator in either 2D or 3D space. This prior art has used image voxels as outputted from the imaging device, i.e., CT scanner, digital radiography apparatus, magnetic resonant scanner (MRI) or mammography system. In all cases, the image data was not calibrated. Since the image gray scale values vary with the imaging conditions and subject properties, the definition of an edge also varies.
In some cases, the diagnostic detail is defined by a pre-selected threshold value, i.e., if the target element equals or exceeds the threshold value, the detail is counted as a positive diagnostic find. Coronary artery calcifications are a notable example. With currently available CT scanners, calcifications that exceed either 130 HU or 90 HU are counted as positive finds. The Hounsfield units (HUs) are known to vary with scanner type, x-ray beam energy, reconstruction software, patient size and composition, and the like. As a result, the threshold value varies depending on these conditions. A positive calcification find is thus different for a small female versus a large male. If a patient is scanned on one scanner and scanned later on a second scanner for a follow-up exam, the results will be different. The diagnostic results are therefore dependent upon several variables of the imaging systems, as well as being dependent on the patients.
The use of external calibration phantoms containing bone equivalent samples have been used for some time in QCT Bone Densitometry. Such phantoms have greatly aided the standardization accuracy and reproducibility of bone density measurements. In this case, however, the target tissue, bone, is large, of a high density much larger than soft tissue, and located relatively close to the calibration phantom.
The use of external calibration phantoms has only recently been attempted with coronary calcium quantification. Calibration phantoms have not been used for soft tissue density measurements or for physical dimensional measurements. One of the problems which exists with quantitative CT relates to the variation of image gray scale values throughout the area of the image. The same tissue type located in one location within the body may produce a different Hounsfield unit value versus a different location. That is, the image is not homogeneous throughout. Not only does the image vary in intensity, but it also varies in effective beam energy. As a result, no one unique calibration curve is available for each CT slice or for a complete digital 2D radiograph. The situation is complicated by being dependent upon the position of the object within the scan field, device servicing and calibrations, and x-ray tube wear.